OPINION
April ll, 2014
Letter to the Editor: recent alunuius hopes
that new president brings a new direction
Dear incoming President,
I am writing this letter
concerned about where the
current administration has taken
Guilford College but with hope
that you will redirect Guilford to
align with its Quaker heritage and
unique spirit.
I am concerned about
the gratuitous Chabotar-era
administrative raises, while staff
and faculty salaries have remained
stagnant. I am concerned about
the lack of both transparency
and faculty support that has
led to many of our most gifted
professors leaving the college
— see Diya Abdo's and Maria
Rosales' recent open letter to The
Guilfordian. I am concerned that,
in the face of budget shortfalls and
a decade of stagnant faculty/staff
salaries, our president, who could
be collaborating with donors
to allocate gifts to the areas of
the greatest need, has accepted
"restricted" donor gifts to build
a steamy rock fountain, a brand
new golf center, repurposing the
formerly, multi-use community
field into a driving range, and
building a new baseball stadium
fence.
When President Chabotar
arrived in 2002, Guilford was
"rudderless, dilapidated and
broke," to use his own words.
Chabotar initiated a period of
austerity by cutting endowment
spending from 14 percent down to
about 5 percent, a necessary move.
This austerity, however, did not
extend to his top administrators.
These pay hikes mirror the rising
wage inequity gaps of the broader
economy and smell like the post-
2008-financial-crisis Wall Street
executive bonuses.
I've heard administrators justify
the high vice president pay by
saying we need to be competitive
for the best CFO or Academic
Dean. But, in what other area of
Guilford are we competitive with
our deep pockets? None.
Faculty and staff take a
significant pay cut to teach at
Guilford because they believe in
the mission of the College and
the community. On average,
students at Guilford receive a
discount rate of about 50 percent
of tuition, enabling students of
varying socioeconomic statuses
to attend Guilford, thus enriching
the cultural, racial, ethnic and
ideological diversities of Guilford.
If you, the incoming President,
were to accept a pay cut and fill
the newly vacant vice president
positions at a lower pay grade, this
would show the community your
humbleness and consideration for
the well-being of the community
before the well-being of your
office. If you raise faculty and staff
salaries and respect the collective
faculty and staff voice, this will
increase faculty retention and
make the community of faculty
and staff stronger, and thus better
prepared to support students.
The compensation of our
administrators should not be
multiples of our faculty and staff
salaries, and donor gifts, restricted
or not, must reflect the ideals and
priorities of Guilford. Guilford
is an educational institution.
Please make the Guilford budget
reflect that ideal, and please
encourage the spirit of giving
towards exciting new academic,
scholarship and experiential
(which includes athletic)
programs instead of submitting
to colonial philanthropy, where
legacy through monument trumps
the often subtle yet vital needs of
the greater community.
A concerned but hopeful recent
alumnus,
Tom Clement
NC’s voter suppression tactics
adopted by other swing states
BY JAKE
DELAHANTY
Staff Writer
It's getting harder and harder to vote in the Land
of the Free.
New voter suppression laws have recently been
passed in North Carolina by Republicans in the
General Assembly. In essence,
these laws make it harder to vote.
State Republicans daim these
laws will prevent voter fraud and
bring greater uniformity to the
system, but that's just a front for
the press.
The real reason these laws have
been passed? To keep Democrats
out of office.
Here's the worst part: other
swing states are now following
North Carolina's example.
Governor John R. Kasich of
Ohio recently passed, a law that
cut "Golden Week," during which voters could
register and vote early on the same day.
"They know when they are taking away early
voting exactly who it's affecting," Ed FitzGerald, the
executive of Cuyahoga County and a Democratic
candidate for governor, told The New York Times.
Yep, laws redudng early voting affect many people,
but they espedally hurt low-income and minority
voters — a historically Democratic voting bloc.
It's no surprise Republicans would want to reduce
early voting. Early voters have won states for the
Democratic Party in presidential elections. Just look
at North Carolina during the 2008 election. On Voting
Day, McCain beat Obama handily, but once early
voting was factored, Obama managed to barely snag
the electoral votes.
While the reason for the strategy isn't surprising,
it's insane that it's actually passing.
It gets worse, though. A federal judge recently
upheld laws in Arizona and Kansas requiring voters
to provide a birth certificate, passport or other
documentation to prove dtizenship when registering
to vote.
"This is a really big victory not just for Kansas and
Arizona, but for all 50 states," Republican Secretary
of State Kris Kobach of Kansas told The Assodated
Press. "Kansas has paved the way for all states to
enact proof-of-dtizenship requirements."
He's right; this is a huge victory for Republicans
in terms of their prospeds for elections. Suppressing
Democratic Party voters tends to have that eflfect.
"It is shameful," said Visiting Assistant Professor
of Political Sdence Robert Duncan in an email
interview. "Our eleded representatives should be
working to make it easier to vote rather than trying to
make it more difficult."
I completely agree, but it appears Republicans
are now looking at voter suppression as an actual
political strategy. Anyone else getting deja vu from
the 1960s?
I also had the chance to talk with those who are
fighting for our rights here in North Carolina.
"Notice which states are following North
Carolina's examples: we shouldn't be proud of any of
them," said Moral Monday protester Whitney Stanley
in an email interview with The Guilfordian. "North
Carolina used to be considered a fairly moderate state
that happened to be in the South. Now, we seem to be
the pied piper of ridiculous politics."
So, what will it take to have these laws reduced or
repealed?
"Education," said Ashley Pinner, another Moral
Monday protester, in an email interview with The
Guilfordian. "The lawmakers who enacted this
legislation are not going to say, 'Hey, wait a minute,
we made a mistake! Letis fix this mess!' The only way
to 'fix' this 'mess' is to make sure people know what
they have done and who has done it."
I agree. As a state, we may have regressed
significantly, but that doesn't mean we get to give
up. Getting involved and educating the public are the
keys to success in North Carolina and other states.
But, what impact will these new laws have on
elections? While it's too early to tell since many of
these laws are so new, I suspect the impact will be
massive.
In past presidential elections, swing states have
been won or lost by just fractions of percents. My
^ess is that these laws will be more than enough to
tip the balance in favor of Republicans in these states.
Until then, try to get involved with the Moral
Monday protests or similar efforts if you truly care
about this issue.
'North Carolina used to be considered a fairly moderate state that happened
to be in the South. Now, we seem to be the pied piper of ridiculous politics.'
Core Values:
justice
The quality of being fair and
reasonable and the administration
of the law or authority in
maintaining fairness.
In what ways may Guilford College build
upon this concept of justice as we move
forward into the future? Are we already
living up to this value?
"The judicial process at Guilford
can be a healing process, part of the
transformative education that Guilford
College is known for. The school takes
great pains to balance the Quaker
principles with the requirements of an
institution of higher education,
"The College also supports organizations
for conflict resolution ... Justice at
Guilford is a rehabilitation process, not
an incarceration process. It shows our
commitment as a community to take
care of each member,**
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“Guilford College shows its core value of
justice in many ways, ranging from the honor
code to the repeated work students and staff do
to make the judicial code as fair and
effective as possible.
“The College does a good job, in my view, of
encouraging justice through the incorporation of
principled problem solving in the curriculum.
“The main opportunity for Increased justice that
I see Is to increase the consistency with which
justice is considered in decision-making.”
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justice is a very important part
of the Guilford experience, I think we
^ could improve by bringing students
towards social acti^ beyond the borders
of our^school...
^^Applying the skills we learn often only
happens on campus. Therefore, the
scope of the college is smaller than it
could be. But, if we were to reach out
. V to tpe community, then our message
Would redch a broader audience and we
could make impactful change before we
graduate,'
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Whitney Stanley, Moral Monday protester
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“(justice) is more than adjudicating the bylaws.
It is incorporating the community into the
processes that guide us. I would like to see both
the collaboration between the (CCE) SGA and
Student Senate continue and hope that they
can work to bring the community onto campus
for events.That would help with admission and
graduation. It would allow Guilford to no longer
be seen as a small private school on the edge of
Greensboro and as the bastion of free thought
and participation we pride ourselves as being.”
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BY ROBERT PACHECO
Staff Writer